Mack Maloney Books in Order
Explore Mack Maloney books in order, from Wingman to Pirate Hunters, with quick summaries, series guides, and easy suggestions on where to start.
Last updated: July 12, 2026
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Mack Maloney books in publication order
45 books
The Circle War
by Mack Maloney
1987
Flying over the frozen ruins of America, Hawk Hunter spots a new Soviet invasion force massing for attack. The country is still broken, and World War IV is about to begin in the skies.
The Lucifer Crusade
by Mack Maloney
1987
With the Russians driven back but Viktor Robotov still loose, Hawk Hunter goes hunting across hostile skies. His red, white, and blue fighter makes him a target for every air force on Earth.
Wingman
by Mack Maloney
1987
After a Soviet nuclear sneak attack shatters the United States, ace pilot Hawk Hunter is called back into the air. Facing sky pirates and an airborne armada, he becomes one of America's last real defenders.
Thunder Alley
by Mack Maloney
1988
Maverick pilot Ryder Long leads a battered team into a Southeast Asian mountain stronghold to stop a warlord with a nuclear device. The target is called Thunder Alley for a reason, and almost no one gets in alive.
Thunder In the East
by Mack Maloney
1988
Back from the Middle East, Hawk Hunter begins the long push to reclaim occupied America. His next target is Football City, a fallen St. Louis that stands between him and the road to Washington.
The Final Storm
by Mack Maloney
1989
Hawk Hunter finally gets his hands on the American traitor who helped doom the country. But with one last Soviet-backed catastrophe still looming, justice and survival become the same mission.
The Twisted Cross
by Mack Maloney
1989
The Soviets are beaten, but a new enemy rises in Panama. As neo-Nazis seize the canal and amass modern firepower, Hawk Hunter heads south for another brutal air war.
Freedom Express
by Mack Maloney
1990
To reopen the route across America's lawless Badlands, Hawk Hunter trades his jet for a heavily armed train. When pioneers vanish en route to Los Angeles, he rolls west into a new kind of war.
Skyfire
by Mack Maloney
1990
Hawk Hunter rescues the woman he loves, only to face another crisis almost at once. Nuclear-armed submarines are closing on the East Coast, and retirement is no longer an option.
Return From The Inferno
by Mack Maloney
1991
America is attacked from both coasts, and this time Hawk Hunter disappears in the middle of the fight. With Nordic mercenaries in the east and Asian invaders in the west, the country can only hope he is still alive.
War Heaven
by Mack Maloney
1991
America's best fighter pilots are dying during supposedly friendly war games in the Southwest. Colonel Ryder Long investigates the mystery and uncovers a deadly link to the buried secrets of Roswell.
War of the Sun
by Mack Maloney
1992
A cult army backed by East Asian warlords holds the West Coast and threatens nuclear retaliation if anyone strikes back. Hawk Hunter answers with a daring carrier-based raid aimed straight at Tokyo.
The Ghost War
by Mack Maloney
1993
A pilot finds Xmas Island reduced to ash by a terrifying super-weapon. When Hawk Hunter learns a heavily armed battleship could do the same to the American coast, he heads out to stop it.
Target: Point Zero
by Mack Maloney
1996
Viktor Robotov blasts into orbit to seize old laser satellites and turn them into a weapon from space. Hawk Hunter has to chase his oldest enemy higher than ever before.
Death Orbit
by Mack Maloney
1997
Pursuing a madman aboard a stolen Russian shuttle, Hawk Hunter finally reaches space. There he discovers an even bigger threat, a comet racing toward Earth that may force old enemies to cooperate.
The Sky Ghost
by Mack Maloney
1997
After deflecting the comet, Hawk Hunter wakes in another universe where World War II never really ended. In a 1997 locked in a grinding war with Nazi Germany, America needs a new hero.
Return Of Sky Ghost
by Mack Maloney
1998
Still trapped in an alternate reality, Hawk Hunter faces a bizarre new war in which Japan attacks Pearl Harbor in 1997. Giant submarine carriers and a fresh Pacific nightmare give the Wingman another impossible fight.
Chopper Ops
by Mack Maloney
1999
An advanced armed cargo plane has vanished, and a handpicked helicopter team is sent into the Middle East to get it back. The mission only grows darker as they uncover hostages, secrets, and a heavily defended fortress.
The Tomorrow War
by Mack Maloney
1999
After a devastating alternate-history Pacific war, Hawk Hunter vanishes again. While allies hunt for him across a warped reality, it becomes clear he has embarked on his strangest mission yet.
Shuttle Down
by Mack Maloney
2000
A U.S. space shuttle carrying a top-secret spy satellite is forced down in China. Chopper Ops has to recover it quietly, or destroy it before too many governments reach the crash site.
Zero Red
by Mack Maloney
2000
Renegade Soviet holdouts hijack an aging ship loaded with nuclear warheads just before Christmas. Chopper Ops must intercept the vessel before its cargo turns a regional crisis into worldwide catastrophe.
Planet America
by Mack Maloney
2001
Searching for the lost home worlds of Earth's scattered people, Hawk Hunter reaches Planet America. What he finds there starts to reveal how the galactic empire has controlled humanity for generations.
Starhawk
by Mack Maloney
2001
On a remote world at the edge of the galaxy, Hawk Hunter is drawn into a deadly flying contest. Winning might uncover the truth about his identity, but losing will kill him first.
The Fourth Empire
by Mack Maloney
2002
Hawk Hunter and his rebels carry the war straight to imperial power. But the rulers of the galaxy are hiding an ancient secret that may be even more dangerous than their armies.
Battle at Zero Point
by Mack Maloney
2003
In the middle of a huge space battle, Hawk Hunter is cut off from his fleet by a portal to another dimension. Soon both rebels and empire are scrambling to recruit terrifying new allies.
Storm Over Saturn
by Mack Maloney
2004
After a major rebel victory, the empire tries to seize the source of all power in the galaxy. Hawk Hunter must find the one man who can stop a new dark age before trillions pay the price.
Strike Force Alpha
by Mack Maloney
2004
An ultrasecret post-9/11 strike team launches from a disguised floating airbase to hunt a key al-Qaeda planner. The mission is bold, illegal-looking, and exactly the kind of war the Superhawks were built for.
Strike Force Bravo
by Mack Maloney
2004
The Superhawks storm a Singapore skyscraper to stop a televised terrorist spectacle. Their success only sparks more trouble, including Pentagon backlash and a deadly plot centered on Stinger missiles.
Strike Force Charlie
by Mack Maloney
2004
Burned by their own government, the Superhawks are left to operate like ghosts. They go underground to stop a wave of attacks inside America and expose the traitors helping terrorists get in.
Strike Force Delta
by Mack Maloney
2005
For their final mission, the Superhawks head to West Africa to rescue a captured Delta team. To get them out alive, they will have to smash a terrorist fortress and end the threat at its source.
The Pirate Hunters
by Mack Maloney
2010
Somali pirates hit a cargo ship carrying luxury cars, heroin, and black-market weapons. Team Whiskey, a band of ex-Delta veterans led by Phil Snake Nolan, heads to sea to stop them.
Operation Caribe
by Mack Maloney
2011
Wealthy tourists are being slaughtered in the Bahamas, and even Coast Guard crews are not safe. Team Whiskey tracks the killers through Caribbean waters and into a larger plot that could wreck the whole region.
UFOs in Wartime
by Mack Maloney
2011
Maloney looks at UFO reports that cluster around major wars, from ancient battles to D-Day and Vietnam. It is a wide-ranging nonfiction study of strange sightings, military witnesses, and the question of why conflict seems to attract them.
Operation Sea Ghost
by Mack Maloney
2012
A lost Vietnam-era weapon has resurfaced in pirate hands, and the buyers are terrorists. Team Whiskey races from secret island bases to Monte Carlo to stop an attack aimed at New York City.
Attack on Area 51
by Mack Maloney
2013
A decade after disappearing, Hawk Hunter returns with no memory of where he has been. His search for answers leads to Area 51, where another threat to shattered America is waiting.
Beyond Area 51
by Mack Maloney
2013
This nonfiction book explores secret bases and forbidden sites around the world, starting with Area 51 and moving far beyond it. Maloney blends military history, UFO lore, and stories from places ordinary people never get to see.
Fulcrum
by Mack Maloney
2014
With the Strikemasters disbanded, Major Tommy Gunn is sidelined until a wave of terrifying jet attacks points to a larger plot. To stop an all-out assault, the 201st has to come back one more time.
Rogue War
by Mack Maloney
2014
The 201st has gone off the books, hunting mass killers in Africa while Washington calls them criminals. A deal for amnesty sends them after terrorists seeking rare yellowcake uranium, and the trail may lead back to American soil.
Strikemasters
by Mack Maloney
2014
A new special operations wing tests its terrifying new weapon, stealth cargo planes turned into flying arsenals. When aid workers are taken in Pakistan, the Strikemasters get their first real mission, and it is far deadlier than any exercise.
Battle for America
by Mack Maloney
2017
Back from his long odyssey, Hawk Hunter finds Russian troops occupying New York City. With America in peril again and old loyalties in question, he prepares for one of the biggest battles of his life.
Mack Maloney's Haunted Universe
by Mack Maloney
2018
A big nonfiction collection of paranormal stories, from UFO trails and haunted battlefields to monsters, cursed places, and unexplained military history. It gathers the odd subjects Maloney has explored for years on the radio and in print.
The Kalashnikov Kiss
by Mack Maloney
2019
This collection follows naval investigator Chris Starr through three odd, dangerous cases, a motel murder, artillery attacks on a Massachusetts town, and a mystery involving dead terrorists. His ESP gives every case an extra edge.
The Odessa Raid
by Mack Maloney
2019
After an Arctic strike against Viktor Robotov goes sideways, Hawk Hunter is pulled through a chain of crises from remote islands to Russian-controlled Europe. Every detour brings him closer to the missing submarine Odessa.
The Sea of Moons
by Mack Maloney
2020
Chris Starr tackles three more cases, including a rogue SEAL in Ireland, a stolen experimental engine in the South Pacific, and a supposedly haunted reality-show set. Military mystery meets paranormal pulp at full speed.
The God Satellite
by Mack Maloney
2022
Rumors spread of a secret satellite that can read minds and alter reality, and Chris Starr gets pulled into his strangest investigation yet. The trail runs from Rome to Arizona to Africa, and then beyond Earth itself.
Where to start with Mack Maloney
If you want his signature post-apocalyptic action series: Wingman → The Circle War → The Lucifer Crusade
If you want Hawk Hunter in full space-opera mode: Starhawk → Planet America → The Fourth Empire
If you want modern military thrillers at sea: The Pirate Hunters → Operation Caribe → Operation Sea Ghost
If you want secret bases, UFOs, and nonfiction: UFOs in Wartime → Beyond Area 51 → Mack Maloney's Haunted Universe
Mack Maloney sub-series and character series
Chopper Ops books in order
Explore this seriesCodename: Starman books in order
Explore this seriesPirate Hunters books in order
Explore this seriesStarhawk books in order
Explore this seriesStrikemasters books in order
Explore this seriesSuperhawks books in order
Explore this seriesWingman books in order
Explore this series
The Circle War
by Mack Maloney
1987Wingman, Book 2
The Lucifer Crusade
by Mack Maloney
1987Wingman, Book 3
Wingman
by Mack Maloney
1987Wingman, Book 1
Thunder In the East
by Mack Maloney
1988Wingman, Book 4
The Final Storm
by Mack Maloney
1989Wingman, Book 6
The Twisted Cross
by Mack Maloney
1989Wingman, Book 5
Freedom Express
by Mack Maloney
1990Wingman, Book 7
Skyfire
by Mack Maloney
1990Wingman, Book 8
Return From The Inferno
by Mack Maloney
1991Wingman, Book 9
War of the Sun
by Mack Maloney
1992Wingman, Book 10
The Ghost War
by Mack Maloney
1993Wingman, Book 11
Target: Point Zero
by Mack Maloney
1996Wingman, Book 12
Death Orbit
by Mack Maloney
1997Wingman, Book 13
The Sky Ghost
by Mack Maloney
1997Wingman, Book 14
Return Of Sky Ghost
by Mack Maloney
1998Wingman, Book 15
The Tomorrow War
by Mack Maloney
1999Wingman, Book 16
Attack on Area 51
by Mack Maloney
2013Wingman, Book 17
Battle for America
by Mack Maloney
2017Wingman, Book 18
The Odessa Raid
by Mack Maloney
2019Wingman, Book 19
Wingman books in chronological order

Wingman
by Mack Maloney
1987Wingman, Book 1
The Circle War
by Mack Maloney
1987Wingman, Book 2
The Lucifer Crusade
by Mack Maloney
1987Wingman, Book 3
Thunder In the East
by Mack Maloney
1988Wingman, Book 4
The Twisted Cross
by Mack Maloney
1989Wingman, Book 5
The Final Storm
by Mack Maloney
1989Wingman, Book 6
Freedom Express
by Mack Maloney
1990Wingman, Book 7
Skyfire
by Mack Maloney
1990Wingman, Book 8
Return From The Inferno
by Mack Maloney
1991Wingman, Book 9
War of the Sun
by Mack Maloney
1992Wingman, Book 10
The Ghost War
by Mack Maloney
1993Wingman, Book 11
Target: Point Zero
by Mack Maloney
1996Wingman, Book 12
Death Orbit
by Mack Maloney
1997Wingman, Book 13
The Sky Ghost
by Mack Maloney
1997Wingman, Book 14
Return Of Sky Ghost
by Mack Maloney
1998Wingman, Book 15
The Tomorrow War
by Mack Maloney
1999Wingman, Book 16
Attack on Area 51
by Mack Maloney
2013Wingman, Book 17
Battle for America
by Mack Maloney
2017Wingman, Book 18
The Odessa Raid
by Mack Maloney
2019Wingman, Book 19
Mack Maloney collections, short stories, and related book types
Standalone Mack Maloney books
Author bio
Mack Maloney grew up in the Dorchester section of Boston, and a lot of what later showed up in his fiction was already there early. His father was a World War II veteran who read military history, and Maloney picked up those books young. He also read science fiction, so jets, wars, secret missions, and stranger possibilities all got mixed together from the start.
That mix never really left him.
He studied journalism at Suffolk University and later earned a graduate degree in film at Emerson College. After school he worked as a sports reporter for two years, then moved into corporate public relations with General Electric. The day-job path made sense, but writing kept pulling at him in the background.
He started writing books in 1984 and went full time in 1987. That same stretch gave him the series that still defines his name for a lot of readers, Wingman. The books imagine a shattered, post-nuclear America where ace pilot Hawk Hunter fights to pull the country back together. They are fast, loud, and full of aircraft, hardware, and cliffhanger energy. They also set the pattern for a lot of Maloney's work: high stakes, a strong sense of mission, and heroes who keep going long after the situation has turned absurd.
Wingman grew big enough to spin off into other directions. In Starhawk, Hawk Hunter is pushed far into the future and dropped into a sprawling space-opera setting. In Chopper Ops and Strikemasters, Maloney shifts toward modern military techno-thrillers, built around elite teams, covert missions, and specialized aircraft. In The Pirate Hunters, he takes that same hard-driving style to the sea, following ex-special forces men who go after modern pirates.
His books tend to be easy to recognize. He likes pilots, commandos, intelligence operatives, and people who are very good at one dangerous job. He likes damaged worlds, secret bases, rogue states, hidden weapons, and missions that begin as difficult and turn nearly impossible. Even when the stories get wild, and they often do, they usually stay anchored by concrete details about machines, logistics, and how a team might actually get from point A to point B.
He also has a strong taste for the unexplained.
That shows up in his nonfiction as well as his fiction. Books like UFOs in Wartime, Beyond Area 51, and Mack Maloney's Haunted Universe lean into the same interests that run through the novels: military history, secret programs, odd sightings, and the uneasy feeling that the official story might not be the whole story. Readers who come to him for battlefield action often end up finding the paranormal side too, and readers who arrive for the UFO material usually discover that the military thrillers scratch a similar itch.
These days, alongside his books, he hosts Mack Maloney's Military X-Files, a radio show and podcast focused on the military's long relationship with the paranormal. It feels like a natural extension of everything he has written for years. Whether he is sending Hawk Hunter into a dogfight, dropping a covert team into hostile territory, or digging into old UFO reports, Maloney keeps circling the same question: what happens when war, technology, and the unknown collide?
Edited by
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